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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. That was a fun ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. field — a subject
  5. mug — to rob
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — to drill
  8. game — wild animals
  9. chair — a leader
  10. row — a line
  11. mug — a cup
  12. field — farmland
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. field — for sport
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mug — a face
  18. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com